Gunpowder Alchemy (26 page)

I was good with books.

He pulled off the glasses and I could finally see his eyes. His gaze only made my heart beat faster. I think many would call him handsome. I might have argued against that when we first met, just to be contrary, but I couldn't argue now.

“When was the last time you spoke to the Emperor?” I asked, my voice coming out more breathless than I intended.

Chang-wei frowned. “Just last week at the double fifth ceremony.”

“When was the last time you
actually
spoke to him?” I insisted. “Has he said anything about the warship fleet? Or the foundries? Or—”

“Miss Jin, I don't understand.”

“I'm worried,” I blurted out. “How do we know the Emperor is still focused on the welfare of the empire?”

“Soling!” he said sharply. Even though we were alone on the platform, Chang-wei glanced over his shoulder before looking back to me and continuing in a lower voice. “You know insulting the Emperor is an act of treason.”

As was criticizing the Emperor openly or making any remark that could be seen as disparaging against the imperial court or the empire. Which is exactly why Father had been executed, despite serving this land and its people loyally until the end.

This was an argument between us that could go on forever. I turned my attention to Chang-wei's worktable and the book he'd been writing in.

“What is all this?”

The look of disapproval remained on his face, but he relaxed a little, grateful for a neutral topic.

“Take a look.” He turned the open pages toward me, though half of the characters remained unreadable. “It's Nipponese.”

The island empire that shared the waters off the coast. From all that I knew, the Emperor of Nippon had closed off his ports to all foreigners in an attempt to avoid our fate.

“Are you learning the language?” I asked.

“I actually speak it with some competency. I've studied it in the past.” He looked embarrassed, as if he'd made some outlandish boast.

I wasn't surprised. I'd learned that Chang-wei also knew how to speak the language of the
Yinguoren
. English, they called it.

“Are you composing a message? I thought the empire of Nippon was refusing contact with anyone.”

“Not composing a message, but writing one down.”

He beckoned me closer, offering his seat to me. I finally got a closer look at the box before him. It was covered in lacquer and painted with a design of two circling carp stamped with gold. On closer inspection, I saw the wires that extended from it which were attached to an earpiece in the shape of a dragon.

“Here.”

He placed the device onto my ear with the dragon curling over my lobe to hold it in place. I shivered as his fingers brushed briefly against my neck.

A series of clicks came from the earpiece. At first I was quite confused, but as I looked down at the mysterious characters on the page before me, I understood.

“It's a code table.”

“Correct.”

Chang-wei gave me a nod of approval. Despite the cool evening, I felt my insides warming.

“You might recall this as well.” Chang-wei opened the lacquered box to reveal the intricate metalwork inside. At the center was a familiar-looking device.

“From my father's puzzle box.”

“Given to him by emissaries from Nippon. It's a receiver and this here—” He indicated the spiraling structure beside us. “—is a signal tower.”

I could barely breathe at the wonder of it all. The clicks inside my ear were some sort of message, but from who?

“Nippon has an Imperial Science Ministry, just as we do,” Chang-wei said, his eyes glowing bright. “And they've been transmitting a message, hoping that someone was listening.”

USA Today
bestselling author
Jeannie Lin
grew up fascinated by stories of Western epic fantasy, Eastern martial arts adventures, and romance novels. Formerly a high school teacher, Jeannie is now known for writing groundbreaking, award-winning historical romances set in Tang Dynasty China, including her Golden Heart Award–winning debut,
Butterfly Swords
, as well as
The Dragon and the Pearl
,
My Fair Concubine
, and
The Lotus Palace
.